the pentagon will lift its ban on women serving in combat roles. susan mcginnis has more. >> reporter: the new pentagon policy makes women eligible to serve in army and marine infantry units. there's also the potential for them to be a part of elite special operations teams, like the navy seals and delta force. victoria rivers was a machine gunner who went on missions with special ops forces. >> working side by side with special forces team, it was pretty cool. >> reporter: but in order to join, women must be able to meet the rigid strength and stamina requirements of those units. >> there's jobs that women can't do physically, because they just don't have the strength, the physical strength to do it. >> reporter: by lifting the combat exclusion policy, the pentagon is opening the door to more women being killed or wounded in action. combat operations in iraq and afghanistan have cost more than 130 women their lives, and more than 800 have been wounded. dawn commanded a platoon in iraq. she lost her arm fighting alongside an infantry unit. >> there